Michael Jordan’s 63 Turns 25

As a fan, we watch each game of the NBA playoffs with knowledge that we potentially have a front row seat to history. Last night was just that. Carmelo Anthony’s 42 points and 17 rebounds performance vindicated every fan who supported trading damn near the entire franchise to obtain his services and Melo carried the Knicks to a layup away from one of the more improbable victories in recent memory.

The more ironic (and forgotten) facet? It came within a few hours from landing on the exact day Michael Jordan blitzed the same Celtics franchise for his now mythical 63 points.

Last week, I made mention of a guy (we’ll call him Dave) who narrated the story of what it was like in Boston Garden that night a quarter century ago. You see, at the time, I happened to be only 79 days old, so my memory of the game stems from ESPN Classic footage, written accounts and my still-missing Come Fly With Me VHS tape. That was all the more reason this guy’s account sticks to my mental.

Going into the contest, Jordan had already torched the Celtics for 49 in Game 1. “Torched” being subjective mainly because the Bulls lost, but such a performance characterized what many saw him as during this part of his career – a stat stuffer who played merely for self-advancement. Years later this became known as his unquenchable desire to win, but whatever. Dave and all who packed into The Garden that night knew two things: they would win and “this Jordan kid” would do something spectacular.

Dave remembers the mood in the arena as festive, but equal parts hot as all hell. The Garden had no air conditioning system and people passing out and players needing oxygen tanks were regular occurrences. It was like playing in a sauna. The only person in the building not affected by the conditions was the one guy Celtics fans knew could beat them single-handedly. At the bar, Dave consumed a few drinks, spoke to people he knew, but ultimately came back to the story. Midway through the third quarter, everyone in the arena knew something memorable was taking place.

Topping 49 wasn’t going to be a problem. Some people even began the talk of 70 points. The only logical comparison was having a hot streak on a craps table when everything you call out is money. McHale couldn’t stay in front of him. Ainge clung on like a jilted ex-girlfriend who just doesn’t get the picture. Dennis Johnson gave a rousing effort. And when M.J. had that now timeless clip of him taking it through his legs with Bird looking in dismay, the history books were already writing themselves. Boston Garden was one of the most intimidating, if not the most, venue in all of the NBA. Yet, as Dave put it, here comes this kid who “really didn’t give a sh*t and looking back on it, that was the best part.”

For those who remember, Jordan stepped to the line at the end of regulation for a pair of free throws to send the game into overtime. As he would go on to do so many other instances in his career, he lived up to the moment, icing both. Every person in attendance let loose of a collective “WTF?” The rest of the story panned out with the second-year man out of North Carolina passing Elgin Baylor for most points scored in a single postseason game. Like Carmelo and the Knicks, however, Jordan and the Bulls lost the game. The Celtics eventually went on to beat the Houston Rockets 4-2. Everything was right in Beantown.

Until six months later when Bill Buckner became a Boston sports icon for all the wrong reasons.

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I remember that game… Not even Bernard King or Iceman had those kinds of games. It was just a cultural shift that night. It was like watching an ABA team or the Globetrotters dismantle an NBA Dynasty. There were just no words to describe what you saw that night.

The Bulls always suffered from being a poorly constructed team–not enough get-my-own-shot guys, too many spot-up guys, lots of under-sized 3s and 4s… They had a ton of bad drafts from 1980-1995… Save for MJ, Pip and Grant, Kukoc (borderline at) the Bulls really didn’t draft/develop you talent well at all. Fortunately the got 3-4 transcendent talents at the right time and had a scheme that allowed their mediocre players to not kill them.

But MJ was in the middle of this mess.

The Celtics even in their lean years were always good team defenders and better athletes than they ever got credit for being. But Jordan went thru that whole squad and dared them to do something about it.

Best part of this game was the plays that didn’t make the highlights–the plays where Celtics cats tried to knock Jordan down and couldn’t cuz they couldn’t even keep up with him enough to put hard fouls on him. It was like Barry Sanders–he got tackled but never got popped hard. The Celts fouled Jordan but never knocked him on his ass–which was something you could do in the 70s and 80s. If you were a scorer and that era and you got hot, some dude would come off the bench and drop 6 hard ass fouls on you in 10 minutes then get dap from his squad.

But not the Celts and to MJ and not that night. Money just chopped them boys up.

That was just an epic ass game…

By: Gotty™

04.20.2011 @ 10:01 PM

Does anybody remember what day of the week this game occurred on? I’m trying to remember exactly where I was when I saw it.

By: Patrick M.

04.20.2011 @ 10:09 PM

C’s can’t be stopped.

By: The Real XL

04.20.2011 @ 10:18 PM

Great piece Tins..for someone who wasn’t old enough to eat solid food at the time, you sure make it seem like you were their..

I wasn’t old enough to comprehend basketball, but even though the bulls may have lost that game i bet black folk everywhere (probably even in Boston) rejoiced at MJ droppin’ 63, in the playoffs, at the Garden..just sayin

By: Black Canseco

04.20.2011 @ 11:33 PM

When Jordan got to Chicago after being taken 3rd that year, only 3 people met him at the airport: A driver who worked for the Bulls, 1 team rep and a local newspaper columnist.

MJ came to town and only 3 people met him at the airport. No parade, no flashy welcome party, no free midwestern booty–i mean ‘tourguides’… nothing.

Chicago just picked him up like he was a really big piece of luggage.

Jordan was kind of a combative, I’ll-show-you dick pretty much from that day on. On and off the court.co

By: Phillmatic Approving Million Dollar Deals through my iPhone

04.21.2011 @ 12:16 AM

@Gotty It was a Sunday. we all watched this at my Grandparents crib. Everybody was loving how MJ was owning the eventual champs.

By: Gotty™

04.21.2011 @ 7:00 AM

Phil – Thank. You. LMAO, I watched it at my grandparents house too. I swear black parents must have had something bigger to do that day. This is one of my earliest, most distinct memories of watching MJ play

By: thecool11o3

04.21.2011 @ 3:51 AM

Tins used his mystic writing powers to sum up something he barely remembered lol.

1st hand experience, word to BC.

By: Double Clutch

04.21.2011 @ 4:36 AM

Has Kobe ever dropped 60+ in the playoffs…..matter fact who has in the past 10 years?